Ventilation and flue inspection in Vecmīlgrāvis - housing estates and port businesses

Estates with their own heating zone

The Riga heat supply development strategy 2025–2032 names Vecmīlgrāvis as one of five small separate heat supply zones, served by the “Vecmīlgrāvis” heating plant. The apartment blocks get their heat from it, so the flats usually have no stoves or boilers. Here the chimney sweep's main job is ventilation and gas appliances.

Ventilation ducts in 1970s apartment blocks

In an apartment block every flat has a natural ventilation duct in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, running to the roof or the attic. The rules require them to be cleaned and inspected at least once every 10 years, and in rooms with a gas cooker, gas water heater or gas boiler at least once every five years. In an apartment building a certificate is needed for every cleaning.

After fifty years dust, grease and building debris build up in the ducts, and during renovations some residents cover the grilles or connect a kitchen hood with a fan to the duct. If a hood with a fan pushes air into the shared duct, it can disturb the draught in the neighbours' flats. During the inspection we measure the draught at each grille, look at the ducts with a camera if needed and mark in the certificate where a duct is not working.

More: ventilation check in an apartment building and ventilation duct cleaning.

Gas in a flat

If a flat has a gas water heater or boiler, it has a flue that must be inspected once a year if it is brick, or once every two years if it is lined or metal. The gas appliance itself needs annual servicing. If the appliance is replaced, the Riga rules require a certificate on the technical condition of the existing appliance, flues and natural ventilation ducts, which must be attached to the application to the municipal Heat Supply Commission.

We prepare this certificate after an inspection in the flat and on the roof. More: chimney check for a gas boiler.

Port and production businesses

In the port, warehouse and production areas of Vecmīlgrāvis there are buildings with their own boiler houses, workshops and heating appliances. A business building needs a certificate for every cleaning, and solid-fuel boilers need cleaning twice a season: by 1 November and once more by 1 March. Once every five years a technical condition inspection with photos or video is also needed.

In the port and by the water, wind and damp attack chimneys and metal flues, so during the inspection we also look at the fixings, guy wires and rust. Port areas may have a pass system, so give a contact person in your request. More: chimney sweep for a business.

Low-rise houses

Vecmīlgrāvis also has low-rise buildings. Where a house is not connected to the heating network, there are stoves, cookers or boilers with a masonry chimney. A masonry stove is cleaned once a year by 1 November, a boiler twice. The owner of a private house may clean a solid-fuel flue themselves, without a certificate, but in a house with two or more flats a certificate is always needed. More: chimney sweep for a private house.

How much it costs

Flue cleaning with a certificate costs from €100, usually €100–130, and the call-out in Riga is included. Ventilation duct inspection in an apartment block has no single price: it depends on the number of ducts and flats, the height of the building, roof access and whether the ducts need cleaning or only inspection. A technical condition certificate for replacing an appliance and inspections of business buildings are also priced for your situation. All prices: prices.